The present invention relates in general to fabrication methods and resulting structures for semiconductor devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to fabrication methods and resulting structures for channel and gate structures of nanosheet transistors having separately tuned threshold voltages.
In contemporary semiconductor device fabrication processes, a large number of semiconductor devices, such as n-type field effect transistors (nFETs) and p-type field effect transistors (pFETs), are fabricated on a single wafer. Non-planar transistor device architectures, such as nanosheet (or nanowire) transistors, can provide increased device density and increased performance over planar transistors. Nanosheet transistors, in contrast to conventional planar FETs, include a gate stack that wraps around the full perimeter of multiple nanosheet channel regions for improved control of channel current flow.
Like all transistors, a nanosheet transistor is essentially a switch. When a voltage is applied to a gate of the transistor that is greater than a threshold voltage, the switch is turned on, and current flows through the transistor. When the voltage at the gate is less than the threshold voltage, the switch is off, and current does not flow through the transistor. As power and performance optimization have become increasingly important, the number of different threshold voltages available on a process have proliferated. Multiple threshold voltages allow designers to select the best option for each section of a design by trading-off power and performance.